Pump



May 26, 1959 A. P. DAVIDSON PUMP 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 30, 1952 ww M m D w f. r A

INVENTOR.

BY ya A r TOR/VFHS M y 26, 195.9 A'. P. DAVIDSON 2,887,958

PUMP

Filed June 30 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 gV/W WW1; BY 5. M

fizwba ATTORNEYS y 26, 1959 P. DAVIDSON 2,887,958

PUMP

Filed June 30, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ar'f/wr' F. Dav/dson INVENTOR.

ATTORNE J United States Patent PUMP Arthur P. Davidson, Edinhurg, Tex.

Application June 30, 1952, Serial No. 296,389

1 Claim. (Cl. 103-103) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in fluid pressure units, and particularly to pumps andfluid driven motors.

It is one object of this invention to provide a fluid pressure unit,such as a pump or fluid driven motor, which is capable of handlingsewage without jamming even though solid objects such as rags and debrismay be present in the fluids.

An important object of this invention is to provide a fluid pressureunit which includes a rotor having fluid channels therethrough which aresubstantially helical and are tubular in shape, such tubular channelsbeing of smooth bore construction to permit the operation of the rotoreven though solid objects may be carried therethrough with the fluid.

A further object of this invention is to provide a fluid pressure unitwherein a rotor is disposed in a housing, such rotor having helicalfluid channels therein and a fluid inlet connected to such fluidchannels, the fluid being discharged from said fluid channels in adirection substantially opposite to the direction of the fluid enteringsaid inlet, said channels being of smooth bore construction and havingno protruding vanes, whereby solid particles may pass through the unitwith the fluid without stalling or jamming the rotor.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a fluid pressure unit,a rotor having fluid channels therein of tubular construction, a fluidinlet to said channels, said inlet and said channels being connected bya forked connection which is diverging and separates the flow of fluidfrom the inlet so that a portion thereof goes into each of the channels.

A still further object of this invention is to provide in a fluidpressure unit, a rotor which is circular in shape and has a lowertransverse flat plane, such flat plane intersecting fluid channels inthe rotor body to form discharge openings from said channels ofquarter-moon shape so that substantially the entire flat plane is openfor the discharge of fluid from the channels.

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed together with other features thereof.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanying drawingsforming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention is shown,and wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the fluid pressure unit ofthis invention, illustrating details of the particular rotorconstruction.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the rotor taken on line 2-2of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view to illustrate the first stage ofconstruction of the fluid passages in the rotor, if such fluid passageswere formed from tubing.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the fluid passages in the rotor ofthis invention, considering such passages as having been formed fromtubing.

2,887,958 Patented May 26, 1959 Figure 5 is an isometric phantom view,illustrating the fluid channels or passages in the rotor body.

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating one type ofhousing which may be used when the rotors are connected in tandem.

Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 77 of Figure 6. t

Figure 8 is another form of housing which may be utilized when therotors of this invention are connected in tandem.

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure l, but illustrating a modifiedrotor construction wherein fluids are discharged in the same directionas they enter.

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 4, but illustrating the modifiedtubular channels of the rotor of Figure 9.

In the drawings the numeral 10 designates the housing in which the rotor11 rotates. The fluid pressure unit of this invention includes thehousing It} and the rotor 11 and their associated parts. This fluidpressure unit may be operated as a pump or as a fluid driven motor. Ifit is desired to operate the unit as a pump the rotor is driven by adrive means externally therefrom so that fluid is drawn through thehousing 10. If the unit is to be operated as a motor, fluid underpressure is supplied to the rotor 11 whereby rotation is impartedthereto.

Referring now to Figure 1 particularly, therein it can be seen that thehousing 10 is made up of an upper section 10a and a lower section 1%.These sections, 10a and 16b, are aflixed together by the securing means12 such as the illustrated nuts and bolts. It will be appreciated, ofcourse, that sections 10a and 10b can be secured together by any othersuitable securing means such as welding or clamps, if desired. Thehousing 10 has an upper shaft opening or bore 14 and a lower shaftopening or bore 15. The housing also has a discharge or outlet 16 whichis substantially perpendicular to the aligned openings or bores 14 and15. The rotor 11 includes a body 17 which has connected therewith shafts18 and 19. If desired, bearing rings 24 may be disposed between theshafts and the bores. Such bearings 20 may also include sealing membersto prevent the escape of fluid between the bores and the shafts. Theshaft 18 is adapted to be connected to a driving means such as a motorwhen the unit is to be operated as a pump. Also, the shaft 18 maybe'connected to a power output if the unit is operated as a fluid drivenmotor. To this end,

a solid shaft 22 is keyed (Figure 5), or otherwise secured, to the shaft18, such solid shaft 22 extending to the driving or driven means.

The other shaft 19, which is generally disposed below the body 17, ishollow and has therefore an inlet passage 23 therein. This inlet passage23 communicates with fluid channels 25 in the rotor body 17. These fluidchannels 25 and the fluid inlet 23 are connected through a forkedconnection 26.

To understand the particular arrangement of the inlet 23, the forkedconnection 26 and the fluid channels 25, reference is made to Figures3-5. Considering now that the fluid channels 25 are to be formed from atubing, the initial step in obtaining the desired configuration would beto start with a Y-shaped tube such as shown in Figure 3. The fluidchannels 25 would be entwined into the configuration shown in Figure 4.If fluid were to be passed through the tubing intertwined as shown inFigure 4, it would enter through the inlet 23, then be diverged into twoseparate paths at the forked connection 26, and then be dischargedthrough the fluid channels 25 with a portion of the fluid passingthrough each of such channels. Actually, the rotor of this invention isnot constructed of tubing as shown in Figures 3 and 4, but these havebeen illustrated to explain more clearly the construction of the rotor.In Figure 5, the actual construction of the rotor is better seen. Thus,the rotor body 17 would be a solid piece of material such as cast ironor any equivalent material which would have cast therein or boredtherethrough the inlets 23, the Y-connection 26, and the fluid channels25. Thus it can be seen that the fluid passage portions in the 'body 17would have the same configuration as the tubing shown in Figure 4.

As best seen in Figures 1 and 2, the lower portion of the body 17 isformed in a flat transverse plane 30. This plane 38 intersects the fluidchannels 25. Since the fluid channels 25 are tubular and are helical intheir downward portion, the plane 11 intersects such fluid channels 25so as to provide discharge ports 31 which resemble quarter-moons. As isevident from Figure 2, these discharge ports 31 provide a dischargeopening from the fluid channels 25 which is substantially the entirearea of the transverse plane 30.

It will be observed in Figure 1 that the upper portion a of the housing10 substantially conforms to the outer surface of the rotor body 17. Athrust bearing 33 is provided between the housing portion 10a and therotor body 17. The housing portion 10b is provided with an annularrecess 35 which is adapted to receive the fluid from the ports 31 andcarry it to the discharge opening 16 of the housing 10.

In operating the fluid pressure unit of this invention, the fluid wouldpass into the inlet 23 from a source external of the housing 10 andwould be diverged in its flow at the forked connection 26 so that aportion of the fluid entering from the inlet 23 would be directed intoeach of the fluid channels 25. From the fluid channels 25, the fluidwould pass outwardly through the ports 31 and to the annular recess 35of the housing 10. Since the rotor 11 would be rotating during thetravel of such fluid, either by rotation from a driving means throughthe shaft 18 or by force of the fluid being pumped through the inlet 23,the fluid being discharged from the ports 31 would follow a helical pathand would flow outwardly through the discharge opening 16 to a pointexternal of the housing 1%. It will be observed that the fluid channelshave a smooth bore throughout and all projections such as vanesgenerally found in fluid pumps or fluid driven motors are avoided sothat even objects such as rags and other debris often present in sewagemay pass through the rotor with the fluid without impedance or stickingof such objects within the pump. Also, due to the large area of theplane which is occupied by the ports 31, there would be no impedance ofthe fluid flow or sticking of solid objects in the fluid at the point ofdischarge from the rotor 11.

In Figure 6 is shown the contruction wherein a plurality of the rotors11 are connected in tandem. This construction may be utilized whereextremely high pressures are desired. Such tandem construction isaccomplished by connecting the discharge of the lower unit to the intakeof the upper unit. Thus the discharge 16 is connected by a U-shaped pipeto the inlet pipe 19 of the upper unit. It will be observed that in thisform of the invention, the shaft 18 on the lower unit is connected tothe shaft 19 on the upper unit and inlet ports 36 are providedtherebetween, with the shaft 18 being closed off so that fluid does notflow downwardly. Suitable sealing and bearing means 37 are provided oneither side of the inlet ports 36. The last unit in the series ispermitted to discharge through its discharge outlet 16 to a pointexternal of the housing 10. The details of each of the units is the sameas was described in connection with Figures 1-5. Likewise, with theexception of the discharge being directed from the first or lowest unitto the next unit in line at its inlet, the operation of these units isthe same as was described in connection with the units of Figures l-5.

In the modification shown in Figure 8, the housing 110 is substantiallycylindrical in construction and is composed of individual sections 110a.Each of these sections 11011 has therewith a baffle plate 38 throughwhich the shaft 19 is adapted to pass. These units or sections 110a arethreaded together by threads 39 or any other suitable aflixing means. Itcan be seen that by reason of the baffles 38 each rotor .11 is disposedwithin a separate housing section. The only communication from the fluidinlet which each of the rotors 11 has, is through their shafts 19. Thusthe fluid discharge from the first or lowest rotor 11 passes into thehousing and is then received by the second or next rotor 11 after itpasses through the inlet openings 40 in the shaft 19. The flow of fluidis indicated by the arrows in Figure 8. The baffle plates 38 havebearings 41 and seal rings 42 associated with the shafts 19 to providefor frictionless rotation of the shafts 19 therein and to prevent thedamage to the bearings by keeping such fluid therefrom due to the sealsor sealing members 42. In operation, the fluid is admitted through thelower shaft 19 and passes upwardly through each of the rotors 11 untilit is finally discharged through the discharge opening 116. The detailsof construction of the rotor 11 are identical with the details explainedin connection with Figures 1-5.

In Figure 9, a modified form of the unit of Figure 1 is illustrated. Inthis form of the invention, the rotor has an inlet 51, a forked passage52 and fluid channels 53 similar to those shown in Figure 1 except thatthe fluid channels are helically spiralled to discharge upwardly, i.e.,in the same direction as the incoming fluid entering inlet 51. Therelationship of the tubular channels 53 can best be seen in Figure 10wherein the channels are illustrated as tubes for clarity in the samemanner as in the illustration of Figure 4. The discharge openings 54 areof the half-moon shape as are the openings 31 of Figure 2.

The rotor 50 has mounted therewith a housing 55 which is fixed relativeto the rotor 50. A suitable bearing such as a brass seal ring 57 isprovided for the support of the housing 55 on the rotor 50. The rotor 50also has a tubular shaft 58 extending therefrom for connection with asolid shaft 59 by threads, wedging, or any suitable securing means. Abearing sleeve 60 is preferably disposed between the bore 61 of thehousing 55 and the outer surface of the shaft 58. The housing 55 has anarched anular passage 63 which is of varying depth and which has anangularly extending discharge pipe 65 connected thereto at the portionof the passage 63 of greatest depth.

The operation of the unit of Figure 9 is substantially the same as thatof Figure 1 except that the fluid is discharged from the unit in thesame direction as it enters. Thus, when using the unit of Figure 9 as apump, the shaft 59 would be driven by a prime mover to impart rotationto the rotor 50. The unit would preferably be immersed below the levelof the liquid to be pumped so that fluid is drawn in at inlet 51,separates into two paths at the forked connection 52, flows throughchannels 53 and is discharged in a helical path from the outlets 54 intothe annular passage 63 from which it is discharged through pipe 65. Aswill be observed, this form of the invention also eliminates vanes andother protrusions such as are ordinarily used in pumps, whereby solidobjects such as rags are able to pass freely through the pump of thisinvention.

It will be appreciated that the unit of Figure 9 may be connected intandem by simply substituting the rotor 50 for the rotor 11 as shown inFigure 8.

From the foregoing, it is believed evident that a fluid pressure unitsuch as a pump or fluid driven motor, has been devised which is capableof handling fluids such as sewage fluids which may have therein largesolid objects, such as rags and the like, without danger to the pumpitself and without operation failure thereof.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the inven tion isillustrative and explanatory thereof and various changes in the size,shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustratedconstruction may be made, within the scope of the appended claims,without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A fluid pressure unit comprising, a rotor having an unobstructed centraltubular inlet formed therein at one end and a shaft connected therewithat the other end, said rotor also having a plurality of tubular fluidchannels formed therein in fluid communication with said inlet, saidfluid channels having outlet ends disposed in a plane substantiallyperpendicular to the axis of said inlet for directing the fluidtherefrom substantially parallel to the axis of said inlet, said outletends having a greater cross-sectional area than said fluid channels, astationary housing, said housing being of substantially larger radialwidth than said rotor and having ,a chamber disposed adjacent the outletends of said rotor for receiving liquid discharged therefrom, saidhousing also having an outlet opening in communication with said chamberfor the passage of fluid from said chamber, a shaft opening in saidhousing through which said shaft on said rotor extends for supportingsaid rotor during the rotation thereof relative to the housing, and saidtubular fluid channels extending upwardly from said central tubularinlet and then following oppositely directed helical paths in a reversedownward direction which overlap to provide a compact rotor which hasrelatively long fluid channels therethrough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS411,625 Thiery Sept. 24, 1889 538,050 Swabel Apr. 23, 1895 605,888Maginot June 21, 1898 705,347 Harris July 22, 1902 735,692 Alvord Aug.11, 1903 1,074,.043 Breuer Sept. 23, 1913 1,367,343 Anderson Feb. 1,1921 1,664,488 'Schellens Apr. 3, 1928 1,839,126 Sperry Dec. 29, 19312,272,469 Lannert Feb. 10, 1942 2,569,563 Grantham Oct. 2, 19512,655,868 Lindau et al Oct. 20, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 486,575 GermanyNov. 25, 1929 644,600 "France June 12, 1928 714,289 Germany Apr. 20,1939 826,539 France Apr. 1, 1938

